Phillipsburg High School wrestlers lead Reno Tournament

Saturday, December 20, 2008

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Phillipsburg High School advanced five wrestlers into today's quarterfinals and was in first place in the team standings through three championship rounds Friday night at the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev.

Easton Area High School, the two-time defending tourney champion, is in third place and will be represented by four wrestlers in the round of eight.

Phillipsburg has 89½ team points, Sunnyside (Calif.) is second with 86 and Easton has 79 points.

Coach Jason Magditch's Stateliners pulled off several big upsets with 103-pounder Matt Silva beating the No. 6 seed, Jordan Evald of Kelso (Wash.), in the third round and Matt Lane at 125 pounds knocking off the No. 3 seed, Nick Burnham of Black Hills (Wash.), also in the third round.

Jared Crouse, at 189 pounds, won twice by fall and rolled to a 3-0 day. Matt Santini was 3-0 at 215 pounds, beating No. 1 seed Sean Sullivan of Wasatch (Utah) 8-2 in the third round.

Perhaps the biggest victory for Phillipsburg was Oliver Brukardt's 2-1 decision over Easton rival and No. 2 seed Mark Hartenstine at 140 pounds. Hartenstine won the 125-pound weight class last year.

Brukardt moved into today's quarterfinals.

"Brukardt got a reversal in the second period," Easton coach Steve Powell said. "Hartenstine was close a couple times on takedowns and there were some good scrambles. That's a surprise; Mark's been real consistent and won here last year. It's a nice win for Brukardt."

The Stateliners, through three rounds, had nine still alive in wrestlebacks.

Moving into the quarterfinals for Easton were 112-pounder Mike Fleck, 130-pounder Joey Rizzolino, 135-pounder Patrick Corpora and 215-pounder Chris Wilson. All four Red Rovers went 3-0.

Fleck beat top-seeded Sean VanDyke of Grundy (Va.) 9-3 in the second round. Wilson knocked off second-seeded Diego Bravo of Sunnyside 8-7 in the third round.

Easton had eight alive in wrestlebacks through three rounds.

Today's quarterfinals begin at noon EDT with the finals commencing at 8 p.m.